EGU25-18366, updated on 15 Mar 2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-18366
EGU General Assembly 2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Geoscience is the future, not a dirty word! Rebranding ourselves to encourage geoscience uptake in schools & universities.
Natasha Stephen1,2, Ashley Akingbade1, Sarah Quinn1, Katie Jones1, Thomas Harvey1, George Jameson1, Megan O'Donnell1, and Simon Thompson1
Natasha Stephen et al.
  • 1The Geological Society of London, London, United Kingdom (natasha.stephen@geolsoc.org.uk)
  • 2Department of Earth Science & Engineering, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

The geosciences have a long association with economic development and growth owing to the legacy of coal, oil and gas exploration, and mining. However, in the 21st century where geosciences have cleaned up their act and are leading the way in sustainability and climate science, digital technologies, and space exploration globally, it’s often still hard to shake the outdated perceptions of our field, and anecdotally this has been cited as a contributor to the diminishing student numbers seen across university programmes (Stephen et al. 2023; 2024).

This is Geoscience is a new public awareness campaign from the Geological Society of London, designed to challenge current perceptions of geosciences in the public domain by providing additional insights into the breadth & benefits of geoscience, and encouraging the use of the word ‘geoscience’ or ‘geology’ in schools to improve geoscience literacy (Stephen et al. 2024). These unbranded materials focus on the diverse array of geoscience topics that may be overlooked and are simple images or moving graphics with single strapline; this is geoscience. They are made available online, across social media, and in print, and are available to everyone to use.

The main aim of the this is geoscience campaign is to encourage geoscience uptake at university and to future-proof our field with a plentiful supply of new, diverse talent within our pipeline, and to ensure we can reduce the growing skills gap that we face. However, it will take many years, perhaps decades, to be able to determine any meaningful impact at that scale, and therefore in the medium term the focus is on university admission numbers, and on the accuracy and diversity of careers information currently available to our prospective students. This presentation will share the newly available resources, highlight important trends in past data, and discuss what comes next: Geoscience for All.

How to cite: Stephen, N., Akingbade, A., Quinn, S., Jones, K., Harvey, T., Jameson, G., O'Donnell, M., and Thompson, S.: Geoscience is the future, not a dirty word! Rebranding ourselves to encourage geoscience uptake in schools & universities., EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-18366, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-18366, 2025.